The present invention relates to a cassette for heat-sensitive transfer printing film used in thermal transfer printers.
Conventionally, cassettes for thermal transfer printing film have been used in order to facilitate the mounting of the thermal transfer printing film to the thermal transfer printer. On one and the other side of a cassette case for such thermal transfer printing film are a feed roller that feeds out the thermal transfer printing film and a take-up roller that winds up the thermal transfer printing film. When such a cassette is mounted to a printer, a drive mechanism of the printer is linked to the take-up roller, a portion of the film that extends from the feed roller to the take-up roller is brought into contact with the thermal head of the printer, the take-up roller is rotated by the drive mechanism and the thermal transfer printing film is drawn out of the feed roller so that it passes the thermal head where image recording is performed.
Usually there are different types of transfer conditions for the recording and of the uses of the sheets having thereon the image transferred by thermal transfer printing. Accordingly, a plural number of types of thermal transfer printing film are made available so as to correspond to these different conditions and uses. Because of this, there has been the problems of a cassette containing an unsuitable type of film being erroneously mounted to the printer, of the recording being performed under transfer conditions that are not appropriate for the film, and of a film suitable for another use being used.